Hello everyone, I’m writing live from Hanoi, Vietnam in the cheapest, highest rated hotel I found online. It’s been a bit of a journey to be where I am, in transit from Canada to Turkey, to Egypt, to this great city.

Now that I’ve settled into my surroundings, had soup that could burn a forest down and coffee you could jump start your car with, I’m starting out on the next chapter of my life and shooting at an adventure.

When I arrived in Istanbul, I wasn’t all to sure what I was getting into. Europe crosses over a bridge into Asia, old meets new, granite sidewalks turn into cobble-stone streets and I become addicted to Burek.

As I come out the arrival gates at Istanbul’s new airport, the man holding the sign baring my name and greeting me with a ride to my hotel is missing. The disconnect in language is met with men calling to me as; American, and afterwards; Canadian, have made me realize that I’m a long ways from home now and I’ve got to make a move and bite the bullet with an unknown cab driver. Which every Internet forum had warned me about previously.  Yep, lets get this over with.

No big deal, Yusuf checks me in and my room looks great. I like the appeal of a solid deal, and this hotel fits the bill in every sense, the bed is extremely clean and it matches the Sportsplex’ bouquet of a bleached finish. The Ada Aparthotel will be home for the next six days or so, and tomorrow I will meet up with the Irwin clan, who have brought us all to this new country for a wedding celebration for Kirk and Dilek later on in Ayvalik. But first.

The next few days roll out in full Turkish hospitality, XL meals and great company to tour the city. Our group of seven takes in the sites along the shore, navigating the city from a mariners stand point, an amazing steal of a deal by any standard with photo opportunities to fire at will. The Hagia Sophia, a work of art, time machine, and one of life’s great experiences. Share the footsteps of Roman leaders, Caesar and friends as history itself takes over and leads you through some 1500 years of marble and granite.

Leather jackets that will change your life, carpets that last forever and offers of hair transplants were littering the streets of the Grand Bazaar every step of the way, Turkish hospitality is the name of the game and if there ever was a degree in a day for salesmen, this is the University.

A few days later, we arrive in Ayvalik, at the only 5 star hotel that ever let me through their doors, and what a space, what a venue, what a wedding. Marble flooring, a mile of pristine beach and more than enough luxury to make anyone want to check in for a lifetime. With the weather in full cooperation, the big day went seamlessly, celebrating the union of Kirk and Dilek with their families on the beach, followed by a celebration that lasted well into the night. The morning after was a slower pace by far than the previous night and been, one more day of wandering the town and one more day with old friends and it was off to Istanbul for more Burek before I would board another bird for the Sahara.

Cairo would not disappoint. The Pyramid Loft in Giza, which when associated with Cairo becomes Big Cairo, is within shouting distance to the Sphinx, and Great Pyramid. A full view of the big three from the top deck, fills immediately a lifelong draw. Accepting the reality that I’m close enough to simply walk due South ten minutes and ring the Pharaoh’s doorbell leaves me sleepless that night, after I search the entire room, every drawer, and even behind the mirror for cobras and spiders I finally sleep most of the day away.

If you’ve ever watched a movie from years ago, that you thought was incredible, only to watch it now and have it let you down so far that you’re underground, I’ve been there. But not right now. Even when I had to borrow some guys shoes and go sockless, even on twenty minutes of sleep, every block of these things are incredible. The minutes slow down and 5000 years of shared paces circle in time atop vacant quarried square angles. Crisp cuts now smoothed edges, flawless order and symmetry  137 metres high, every block around 5’X5′ and an estimated 2.5 tons, each set in place with muscle and blood beneath the sun.

Several pyramids and one Sphinx later, I’m back at the hotel, having the experience of a lifetime sticking with me as I chose to descend into one of tombs within the structure. As unbelievable as the outer view is, there’s no comparison to being a quarter mile under the sand, in that space, and in that state of mind. The Wind-Up Bird is wound up again.

Following that epic journey will not be easy, but the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities combined with the Abu Sarga church in old Cairo gives a good run the following day.

Landing in Hanoi soon after another round of hugs with new friends, I’ve now seen more motorcycles on my walking tour from the bus stop to my hotel than I’d seen in the previous 39 years. Most of them on full giver right on the side walk, and none of them worried about me. Thanks Wilson for your tips on crossing the street years ago, just don’t stop because they’ll hit you if you do.

So I made it all the way here so far, from pre winter Manitoba, to post wedding Turkey, and present day pyramids. Another country, another experience and even more to come.

I went into the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.

-Henry David Thoreau, Walden